The Book of Genesis is full of children born from problematic relationships, but few have a sadder origin story than Ben-Ammi.
When the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah went up in literal flames, Lot’s daughters feared what would become of their lineage as they hid in a cave away from the hellfire. Little did they know that they would give birth to two nations who not only strayed away from God but also warred with their relatives—their uncle Abraham’s descendants, the nation of Israel.
We’ll learn about Ben-Ammi in the Bible today, what happened with his descendants, and what we can learn from his sad story.
What Does the Name Ben-Ammi Mean in the Bible?
Ben-Ammi’s name means “son of my kindred” or “son of my people.”
Ben-Ammi was born to one of Lot’s daughters. As the story in Genesis 19 goes, they had escaped Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction with their father (their mother died on the way, turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at the city’s destruction).
The daughters hatched a plan to have children. They would sleep with their father after getting him drunk.
The narrative never names the daughters. We just know them as the older daughter and the younger daughter. We may learn a little more about them by looking at traditional Jewish texts such as the Midrash—a commentary by rabbis. Since the Midrash is a commentary on the Bible, not the Bible itself, we must apply a grain of salt when reading it. Still, it’s useful to consider how ancient Jewish teachers interpret the text.
The Midrash suggests that Lot had four daughters. If that’s the case, Genesis 19 focuses on two.
The Book of Jasher names one of the daughters as Paltith, but she appears to have died before the events of Genesis 19. According to the Book of Jasher, she’s burned to death by the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah for giving bread and water to a starving, poor man. If these cities were truly this cruel and uncharitable, it would make sense why God would want to wipe these cities off of the face of the earth.
While the Midrash does not name Lot’s two daughters mentioned in Genesis 19, it presents them in a kind light. Perhaps this is because a few verses before Genesis 19, Lot tries to have his daughters gang-raped. When angels come to visit Lot, men outside want to rape them. Lot tries to bargain with them by saying he’ll send out his daughters. We can imagine the daughters did not appreciate this.
Back to the biblical text, we learn that Lot’s two daughters have two sons. The younger daughter ends up having a boy named Ben-Ammi.
Like many people in Abraham and Lot’s families, Ben-Ammi goes on to found a people group. He becomes the forefather to the Ammonites—a Canaanite people group who worshipped a god named Ammi or Ammon. Like many ancient cultures, they probably deified their leader. For example, the ancient Egyptians treated their pharaohs as divine figures.
Who Were the Ammonites?
As mentioned earlier, Lot’s descendants were not kind to the Israelites. But what do we know specifically about the Ammonites?
According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, they were a nomadic tribe. Some descendants of Lot (such as the Moabites) tended to stay in one place, in cities. The Ammonites shifted from place to place, wherever their herds could find nourishment.
We also know that God was against the Israelites marrying the Ammonites, and for good reason. Their interactions with the Israelites are rarely, if ever, positive.
The major stories featuring the Ammonites are as follows:
Exodus 17 describes how they showed no kindness to the Israelites when traveling to the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 23 tells us that the Ammonites hired Balak to curse Israel. After an encounter with an angel, Balak ends up blessing Israel instead, but the Ammonites knew they were up against God’s people. And they decided a curse would help to wound Israel.
During the time of the Judges, they warred against the Israelites. We see this during the time of a judge named Jephthah.
After Israel became a kingdom, Saul and David waged war against the Ammonites and managed to do significant damage.
However, during Solomon’s time, we see something different take place. Solomon institutes a time of peace in Israel, and he begins to marry foreign wives to establish peace treaties between kingdoms. This includes marrying an Ammonite woman. The woman goes by the name of Naamah and gives birth to a man named Rehoboam.
If Rehoboam’s name looks familiar, it’s because he ends up splitting the kingdom of Israel through his foolishness. A man named Jeroboam took the northern kingdom, and Israel never knew peace again.
Later on, during the time of King Josiah, we learn that the Ammonites worship another deity. One far worse than Ammi. It goes by the name of Molech (1 Kings 11).
Although all foreign gods were seen as abominations in the Old Testament, Molech was by far the worst. People would offer children as human sacrifices to this deity. How ironic that a nation that started from an incestuous rape would turn to killing children as one of their religious practices.
During Josiah’s reign, he destroyed various high places dedicated to Molech.
They seem to still exist as a distinct people group in the second century (Justin Martyr references them). Sometime after that, they disappear from history.
What Can We Learn from Ben-Ammi in the Bible?
Ben-Ammi had very humble beginnings. The story of Lot and his daughters tends to leave a bad taste in the mouths of anyone who reads it. The Ammonites had a rough start to begin with, but that still does not excuse their practices of sacrificing children to foreign gods.
So, What Can We learn from Ben-Ammi in the Bible?
The Bible is full of irony (sometimes very dark irony)
We can’t read the story of Lot and his daughters without first looking at what happens in Sodom. When a mob wanted to attack Lot’s visitors, he offered up his daughters to be assaulted to save his visitors. Those angelic visitors then blinded the mob, showing they could have destroyed their attackers if they wanted to.
Later on, Lot’s daughters assault him.
Rape is never justifiable, but it is interesting to see the two stories in the narrative intertwine. Sexual violence is a recurring theme in the tale—perhaps suggesting that a sexually violent culture begets more violence.
God wasn’t being racist.
Since the Ammonites weren’t allowed to worship with the Israelites, we may see this as a racist action on God’s part. But we also see throughout the Old Testament that God allows individual Canaanites (like Ruth and Rahab) who pursue new life to join the nation of Israel. He has mercy on those who crave holiness yet draws clear lines about Israelites not getting involved with sinful Canaanite cultures (with practices like Molech worship). As we see when Solomon intermarries with the Ammonites, God knew what he was doing.
Before we accuse God of racism in the Old Testament, we must consider the bigger picture. Israel was smack-dab in the middle of nations that committed some of the most horrible acts in human history. When God set them apart under the new covenant, he wanted them to live different lives.
Eventually, God would include all nations in his family. And as we can imagine, many descendants of the Ammonites may have come to know Jesus as their Savior.
Humanity will do awful things if left to our own devices
We don’t even need to look to the Midrash or Book of Jasher to get an idea of how awful Sodom was—although I will say, a cursory reader of Jasher gave me the willies about some ancient cultures’ torture methods).
Sodom and Gomorrah is a good case study of how far depravity can take us. Ben-Ammi was a child born out of this depravity. Tragically, unlike many people in the Old Testament, he did not turn to God eventually.
Thankfully, we have a God who loves us and chooses to redeem even the worst of us.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Ben White
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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